#52Women52Weeks: Alexis Gallivan, co-founder of Blue Marble Ice Cream, helps grow the conscientious food movement one scoop at a time

1. When did you decide to start Blue Marble?

After working in international development for nearly a decade, I grew frustrated by what I saw as a deep and senseless divide between the private and public sectors. There was very little meaningful collaboration and integration of cross-sector best practices at the time - even though we ultimately shared the same general aims, albeit for different reasons. This division seemed like a terrible waste of opportunity to me, as it really limited our individual and collective impact. 

In the midst of this frustration, I moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn. My move pre-dated the borough’s artisanal food renaissance, and the ice cream fanatic in me was disappointed to discover that there were no good scoops to be had in my new neighborhood. After complaining about this for months, I was hit with my "a-ha" moment. I realized that filling this gap in the ice cream market was my chance to both satisfy my sweet tooth AND push for more good in the world in an entirely new and innovative way. 

At a birthday party in January 2007, I was talking to some of the guests about my radical ice cream business concept and caught the interest of one of my friends, Jennie Dundas. Before long, we had purchased a $99 business plan template online and were on our way to launching Blue Marble Ice Cream: NYC’s first and only certified organic ice cream brand. One week shy of nine months later, we opened the doors to our first shop and have been managing the fast and furious growth of our company ever since. Blue Marble fans can now find our award winning organic ice cream at our retail locations in Brooklyn, several seasonal outposts including the Brooklyn Flea and Governor’s Island, dozens of retailers and restaurants across the NYC metro area, and even on JetBlue and at Barclays Center. Folks outside of NYC can enjoy our ice cream, too, by having some pints shipped directly to their doorstep through foodiedirect.com. 

2. How did you and your partner, Jennie Dundas, meet?

Through Craigslist! I was finishing my Masters at Columbia and searching for a sublet, and Jennie had a fantastic apartment near campus with a spare room she was looking to fill. I answered her ad, and shortly after we met, we realized we had a number of friends in common. This was the first of many beautiful strokes of serendipity we’ve experienced over the years as friends and business partners. And much to people’s surprise, we’re still good friends today, despite all the stress and chaos of running a business together. Jennie is a creative and intellectual powerhouse, and I’m grateful everyday that she decided to take this wild leap with me. 

3. What is the best part of running your own business?

I often describe entrepreneurship as running a sprint and a marathon simultaneously. You need to have some serious speed and strength to move ahead of the competition, but you also need patience and endurance to withstand the hills and curves on the long road ahead of you. While totally exhausting, this training has given me a full-brain workout and fueled my development into a highly competent and versatile business professional. This hard-fought capacity is a reward on its own, but I value the confidence it’s given me most of all. I believe in myself and feel ready for whatever challenges await me. 

4. Who inspires you?

Answering this question is as hard as choosing which ice cream flavor is my favorite! There are so many contenders. I suppose I have to start with my mom. Even in the face of adversity, she has the most positive outlook and buoyant spirit of anyone I’ve ever known. I’m also deeply inspired by the women I work with in Haiti and Rwanda through my company’s nonprofit social venture, Blue Marble Dreams. These women are bold, creative risk-takers who have been dealt virtually every disadvantage life has to offer yet are hopeful and determined to thrive. Finally, I could name dozens of my NYC entrepreneur peers who have inspired me with their commitment to craft and tireless will to succeed. Thanks to their hard work and integrity, the conscientious food movement that began in Brooklyn has now rippled across the US and profoundly changed the way we eat.

5. Why is corporate social responsibility important for small businesses? 

I won’t sugarcoat it. Having (and maintaining) integrity in business is really, really hard. There are financial temptations at every turn to cut corners, compromise and otherwise stray from your founding values. Blue Marble has not been immune to these struggles, but instead of treating our ideals as some kind of albatross, we built our entire value proposition around them. In fact, our name — borrowed from the nickname for Planet Earth — represents our commitment to the wellbeing of the world around us. This commitment began with our sourcing. As a certified organic company, we sought to 1, create the most pure, honest and decadent ice cream we could, and 2, drive demand for farmers worldwide who are fighting to grow and raise our food in responsible, sustainable and humane ways and earn a living wage in doing so. Determined to create an environmentally friendly experience and atmosphere for our guests, we were also among the first food companies nationwide to exclusively use compostable flatware and incorporate green building materials in our retail locations.  

Just one year after opening our first shop in Brooklyn, Jennie and I launched our social venture, Blue Marble Dreams, with a mission to extend our impact to communities in need. We began by partnering with a group of women in Butare, Rwanda to build Inzozi Nziza (Sweet Dreams), their town’s first-ever ice cream shop. This unique social enterprise has generated stable jobs for dozens of women, built demand for area farmers and stimulated commerce throughout the community. The story and impact of Inzozi Nziza was chronicled in the critically acclaimed documentary, Sweet Dreams.

In partnership with Haiti 155, another Brooklyn-based nonprofit, we have replicated the Sweet Dreams model in Port au Prince, Haiti with Bél Rév, scheduled to open in September 2016. Thanks to support from the Clinton Foundation and NRG Energy, Bél Rév was constructed out of reclaimed shipping containers and equipped with solar panels and a micro grid, enabling our energy independence. 

Because these efforts are an integral part of who we are (and not just what we do or feel we are obligated to do), we don’t explicitly consider them acts of "corporate social responsibility.” However, they can be used as examples of such for other small businesses and have yielded many of the desired business benefits of CSR — a compelling recruitment tool, a motivated and loyal staff, great public relations material, and, perhaps most importantly, an opportunity to differentiate from the competition and increase market share. These benefits have been helpful, but they aren’t what motivate us most. We fundamentally believe that by using our business to create meaningful opportunities for others in the world, we are investing in a more just, peaceful and prosperous future for us all. The value of the return far surpasses the short-term costs. We urge other business owners to share their unique expertise, resources and influence and, in doing so, create new possibilities for people and the world at large.

Connect with Alexis Gallivan HERE

Meet women who are changing the world every Thursday in the #52Women52Weeks series!

More like this:

• Tori Bender is breaking through diabetes to save the lives of others—and her own
• Online dating expert Julie Spira advises finding a dream like a dream job
• Rebecca Soffer of Modern Loss encourages living your grief out loud
• Fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff credits her mom for her success